The Sandman left our cabin about 4.30 this morning. I left the drapes open so we would not miss the Islands as we approached our anchorage. But... the dawn came very early, earlier than the Islands. We ate on deck and by seven we were anchored and the ship was cleared by the local authorities.
Moe decided to linger a bit aboard, but Gail, Jim, Fellette and I were anxious to get out walking, so we were on the first tender in. We were ashore by 8.15 and It was already hot. A large outrigger that sailed around for a few hours made us feel like Captain Cook when he arrived. I guess the local chamber of commerce is alive and well in Nuku Hiva.
The "town" is more a strip of buildings along the waterfront road. Other roads adjoining and going up into the steep hills on the slopes of what at one time was obviously lava fields, now soil. It is a somewhat busy place with a few motor scooters and a lot of pick-up trucks. Some with four wheel drive. There is no snow obviously so I suppose it is either a status symbol or they serve a purpose for some off-road work?
We had a goal of looking for some tikis that we were told were worth seeing, however we never did find them. The day consisted of walking several kilometres looking for those tikis, looking at interesting crafts, taking scads of photos, talking to people, having a cool drink and then rather than go back to the ship for lunch we decided to try the local cuisine. The New Zealand mussels were delicious, as was the beer and french fries, after all, this is French cooking!
We sat next to a family with two happy young faces that we could not resist taking photos, the same as the other happy young boy and also the tattooed face. He was set up at a Saturday market stand ready and willing to do tattoos! The guy with the beer looks a bit happy as well!
There are more than a few gigantic stone carvings that dot the landscape, similar I suppose but smaller than on Easter Island. The movement of people between islands thousands of miles apart over the centuries must be an amazing story of unbelievable sea journeys with untold loss of life and hardships.
We were back on our air-conditioned ship by 2.00 for a shower and a quiet time to look at photos. The ship pulled up anchor a bit early and we left the bay at 5.30 heading for Tahiti. We did not go to the dining room for dinner, the Cutlers and Robins dined up in the Lido, the cafeteria style facility up top that is really very nice.
We had a great time with photos today, as you can see. Moe also took about 50. She was ashore about two hours and then returned to the sanctuary of the ship, where she now feels very comfortable.
The water temperature was about 82 F, but they advised that sharks were in the area, so Jim had to be satisfied with walking up to his ankles in it. Gasoline is $1.25/litre. [Not too bad for 2000 miles from nowhere.]
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